14 DAY TRIAL // Media reports say that, as of recently, folks in Russia have gotten into the habit of making their pets look like animals belonging to an entirely different species. What's more, some choose creatures that exist in myths alone.
If you need proof, have a look at the photo next to this article. Rumor has it that it shows a cat made to look like a dragon. Still, one has to admit that this feline looks less like a ferocious mythical monster and more like a tiger-turned-punker.
Does such treatment count as animal abuse?
First off, it need be said that, according to Daria Gotz, who owns the beauty salon in the city of Yekaterinburg where pets more or less willingly undergo such transformations, styling a cat or a dog to such an extent is by no means a form of animal abuse.
On the contrary, Daria Gotz maintains that the animals very much like being pampered like this, and that they love and adore the experience from beginning to end. One can only assume that this is because nobody ever bothered to show them what they look like in a mirror.
Not at all surprisingly, animal rights defenders do not see things quite like this. On the contrary, members and supporters of UK's RSPCA (the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) are convinced that the cats and the dogs would much rather keep their natural looks.
“Pets could potentially find being held and restrained whilst the dyeing process is undertaken very stressful,” a spokesperson for the RSPCA told the press in a recent interview, as cited by Daily Mail.
Furthermore, “Our pets are living creatures and dyeing them in this way sends out an extremely worrying message that they could be viewed as novelty accessories rather than as intelligent, sentient animals.”
How safe is the procedure?
Since dying animals all sorts of wacky color is Daria Gotz’s way to make a living, it should not come as a shock that this beauty salon owner maintains that the dyes she and her colleagues use when turning cats into dragons and other animals are as safe as it gets.
“Those dyes which we use are absolutely pet-friendly and producers claim that they have a healthful effect on the animals' coat. The dyes are made from natural botanical extracts, they are Korean,” the beauty salon owner said in a statement.
The RSPCA disagrees and argues that, regardless of what producers might say, the fact remains that cats and dogs should never be dyed. As the organization's spokesperson put it, “Cats are highly fastidious creatures and will groom any substance from their coats to keep themselves clean. Having an unwanted substance in their coat could lead them to ingest the dye.”
In case anyone was wondering, it looks like people in Russia dye their cats and dogs green, yellow or other peculiar bright colors simply because they get tired of having them look the same all day long.
